Berkeley Symphony "Literary Soundscapes" Program

Joseph Young / Music Director
Literary
Soundscapes
puckett | karpman | mendelssohn
MARCH 23, 2024 | 7:30PM
First Presbyterian Church
23/24
SEASON

2 March 23, 2024

Berkeley Symphony 23/24 Season
5 Message from the Music Director
6 Orchestra
8 Board of Directors & Ambassadors Council
11 Season Sponsors
13 Ad Index: Support Businesses that Support Us
15 Today’s Program
17 Program Notes
29 Music Director Joseph Young
31 Composer & Guest Artist Bios
36 Upcoming Concerts
39 About Berkeley Symphony
40 Music in the Schools
45 Annual Support
50 Contact
Berkeley Symphony is a member of the League of American Orchestras and the Association
of California Symphony Orchestras.
No recordings of any part of today’s performance may be made without the written consent
of the management of Berkeley Symphony. Program subject to change.
March 23, 2024 3

MAYBECK
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Be Curious. Be Inspired. Be Yourself.
v
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4 March 23, 2024

Message from the Music Director
photo by Louis Bryant Photography
Welcome to the third
concert of our 2023/24
season, Literary Soundscapes,
where we will explore the
expressive powers of symphonic
music and the written
word. Through this program,
we’ll experience the literary
worlds of renowned poets
Walt Whitman and Langston
Hughes, blending orchestral
colors with vocal expression.
At the heart of this program
is music that transcends genre
and time period to pay homage
to musical evolution and shared
experiences. Joel Puckett’s
There Was a Child Went Forth
transports us back to childhood—the
world needs some of
that wonder right now. Laura
Karpman’s iconic setting of
Langston Hughes’s jazz-poetry
reminds us that we can jam to
poetry, jazz, and hip hop, and
we can honor orchestral music
at the same time. In Karpman’s
score—created in collaboration with legendary soprano Jessye Norman—Hughes’s
text is spectacularly sung and spoken by a slate of incredible soloists. To round
out the program, Mendelssohn’s playful take on Shakespeare invites us to dream.
This music is an eclectic mix that I hope Bay Area audiences find relatable and
refreshing.
We cherish the opportunity to make music together with you, and we thank you
for making Berkeley Symphony a part of your community.
—Joseph Young
March 23, 2024 5

The Orchestra
Violin I
Nigel Armstrong, Concertmaster*
Stuart Canin Chair
Matthew Szemela,
Associate Concertmaster
Emanuela Nikiforova,
Assistant Concertmaster
Sarah Elert
Erica Ward
Candace Sanderson
Lisa Zadek
Sergi Goldman-Hull
Violin II
Julia Churchill, Principal*
Hui Lim, Assistant Principal*
Monika Gruber
Katie Allen
Lylia Guion
Hande Erdem
Viola
Tiantian Lan, Principal
Jacob Joseph,
Assistant Principal
Darcy Rindt
Alexandra Simpson
Rebecca Wilcox
Cello
Stephanie Wu, Principal*
Chloe Mendola, Assistant Principal*
Eileen Moon
Kirsten Shallenberg
Bass
Michel Taddei, Principal
Alden Cohen, Assistant Principal*
Carlos Valdez
Flute
Alice Lenaghan, Principal*
Laurie Seibold
Isabella Grimes
Oboe
Jessica Pearlman, Principal*
Deborah Shidler Principal Oboe Chair
Haley Hoffman
Clarinet
Roman Fukshansky, Principal
Bruce Foster
Tenor Saxophone
Mary Fettig, Principal
Bassoon
Rufus Olivier, Principal*
Jameal Smith
Horn
Alex Camphouse, Principal
Dan Wions
Alicia Mastromonaco
Richard Hall
Marianna Pallas
Trumpet
Leonard Ott, Principal*
Forrest Powell
6 March 23, 2024

The Orchestra
Trombone
Tom Hornig, Principal
Kathleen G. Henschel Chair
Chase Waterbury
Kurt Patzner
Tuba
Nathan Swift, Principal*
Timpani
Kevin Neuhoff, Principal
John W. Dewes Chair
Percussion
Ward Spangler, Principal
Gail S. & Robert B. Hetler Chair
Fred Morgan
Sohrab Bazargania
Stuart Langsam
*Acting Concertmaster / Principal /
Assistant Principal
Harp
Wendy Tamis, Principal
Piano
Kymry Esainko, Principal
Electronics
Samantha Burgess, Principal
James Crocker
Assistant Conductor
Samantha Burgess
Librarian
Quelani Penland
Orchestra Manager
Franklyn D’Antonio
Music for Your Life
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March 23, 2024 7

Board of Directors & Ambassadors Council
Executive Committee
Rigel Robinson, President
Paul Bennett, Chair
Kathleen G. Henschel, Vice President of Development
Sandy McCoy, Vice President of Governance
Kathleen Crandall, Vice President of Community Engagement
John Dewes, Treasurer
Shikiri Hightower-Gaskin, Secretary
Shariq Yosufzai, Past President
Board of Directors
Susan Acquistapace
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Ambassadors Council Chairs
Kathleen G. Henschel, Co-chair
Buzz Hines, Co-chair
Marilyn Collier, Chair Emerita
Lisa R. Taylor, Chair Emerita
Ambassadors Council
Gertrude Allen
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8 March 23, 2024

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March 23, 2024 9

10 March 23, 2024

23/24 Season Sponsors
Berkeley Symphony extends its deep appreciation to
the following companies and individuals whose generous support
has made the 23/24 Season possible:
Laura & Paul V. Bennett
Kathleen G. Henschel & John W. Dewes
Gordon Getty
The Estate of Richard & Joan Herring
Rose Ray & Robert Kroll
S. Shariq Yosufzai & Brian James
Anonymous
Media Sponsor
Official Wine Sponsor
Heartfelt appreciation to Berkeley Symphony’s longtime official florist Jutta Singh.
Thank you for your many years of service!
March 23, 2024 11

Los Angeles
Piano Trio
Sat., Apr. 27, 2024
at 3pm at St. John’s
Presbyterian Church
Four Seasons Arts
Classical music recitals and chamber concerts
Programming that highlights the world’s cultural,
racial and ethnic diversity
2024 Founder’s Concert
This is a FREE
concert offered
as a gift to the
community.
Tickets required.
Alison Buchanan, Soprano
Robert Sims, Baritone • Daniel Lockert, Pianist
Sat., May 18th, 2024 at 3pm
at St. John’s Presbyterian Church
2727 College Ave, Berkeley
Full series schedule at fsarts.org
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March 23, 2024 13

14 March 23, 2024

Today’s Program
Joseph Young Conductor
Joel Puckett
There Was a Child Went Forth
(West Coast Premiere)
Nicholas Phan tenor
Laura Karpman Ask Your Mama: 12 Moods for Jazz, Part 1
Dedication
1. Cultural Exchange
2. Ride, Red, Ride
3. Shades of Pigmeat
Clairedee jazz vocals
Arianna Rodriguez soprano
Olivia Johnson mezzo-soprano
Wendel Patrick narrator
Intermission
Felix Mendelssohn Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Laura Karpman Ask Your Mama: 12 Moods for Jazz, Part 3
8. Is It True?
9. Ask Your Mama
10. Bird In Orbit
11. Jazztet Muted
12. Show Fare, Please
Clairedee jazz vocals
Arianna Rodriguez soprano
Olivia Johnson mezzo-soprano
Wendel Patrick narrator
Today’s concert is being recorded for broadcast on KALW 91.7 FM at a later date.
Today’s performance is made possible by the generous support of
Suzanna & Italo Calpestri • Fredric Jacobson & Mary Murtagh
Janet Shohara McCutcheon • Paul Templeton & Darrell Louie
Please switch off your cell phones, alarms, and other electronic devices during the concert. Thank you.
March 23, 2024 15

16 March 23, 2024

Program Notes
Joel Puckett
Born in Atlanta in 1977; currently
resides in Baltimore
There Was a Child Went
Forth
Composed: 2023
First performance: April 30, 2023, at the
Music Center at Strathmore in Bethesda,
Maryland, with tenor Nicholas Phan
and the President’s Own Marine Band
Chamber Orchestra led by Jason Fettig.
Berkeley Symphony is performing the
West Coast premiere.
Duration: c. 18 minutes
In addition to solo tenor, scored for flute,
oboe, clarinet, bassoon, 2 horns, trumpet,
2 percussionists, piano, harp, and strings
f the name Joel Puckett isn’t etched
“Iinto your brain, it should be,”
declared the veteran critic David Patrick
Stearns in a review of the composer’s I
Enter the Earth, a piece for a cappella
choir from 2015. Puckett grew up in a
musical family in the Atlanta area—his
father was a professional tuba player—and
sang in choirs as a child, including under
the legendary Robert Shaw. Initially he
planned to pursue a professional career
as a singer. But he discovered that he was
most fulfilled “in a place where I was creating
rather than recreating things. So I
started focusing deeply on writing music.”
Puckett earned his doctorate at the
University of Michigan, where Michael
Daugherty, William Bolcom, and Bright
Sheng were among his mentors. Along
with his career as a sought-after composer,
Puckett teaches composition and theory at
the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore.
His catalogue ranges from compositions
for chamber and wind ensembles to choral,
orchestral, and stage works. Puckett’s 2009
concerto for flute and wind ensemble, The
Shadow of Sirius, draws inspiration from
his love of poetry (here, the eponymous
work by W.S. Merwin) and has received
more than 200 performances to date. His
debut opera, The Fix, which dramatizes the
rise and fall of the 1919 Chicago White Sox,
garnered an enthusiastic response when it
premiered at Minnesota Opera in 2019.
There Was a Child Went Forth was
inspired by Puckett’s artistic affinity with
Nicholas Phan. He recalls how they first
collaborated two decades ago to premiere
one of his orchestral songs—another setting
of a Walt Whitman text. “We stayed
in touch, since we found such immediate
resonance in the way that we saw music,”
Puckett says. An ideal occasion to renew
the collaboration arrived when he received
a commission to write a piece celebrating
the 225th anniversary of the President’s
Own Marine Band Chamber Orchestra
(later expanded to encompass a chamber
orchestra).
“I wanted to find something that speaks
to the moment that we’re all feeling right
now, of America being at a crossroads and
trying to figure out what it wants to be
next,” recalls the composer. “I’m always
trying to think about how my music can
express the moment in which it is being
created. My opera The Fix, for example, is a
March 23, 2024 17

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18 March 23, 2024

workers’ story at its heart—about a bunch
of ballplayers being taken advantage of not
only by management but by a system that
was set up to hold them down.”
Phan suggested that a good source for
the new commission would be the poetry
of Walt Whitman, who had made the
topic of America at a crossroads a central
concern in his work. Puckett found
the 1855 poem “There Was a Child Went
Forth” particularly suitable, though he
slightly adapted it to account for changes
in sensibility between a 19th-century
text and a 21st-century audience. (Whitman
later included the poem as part of
the “Autumn Rivulets” section of the 1881
edition of Leaves of Grass.) “The text follows
the everyday wanderings of a child
as they notice and incorporate the world
around them into their being,” writes the
composer in his preface to the score. “The
music taps into a melancholic nostalgia for
childhood, belonging—or not fully belonging—to
a family, and the spirit of wanting
to become an individual.”
Puckett recalls being struck by the
resemblances he noticed with James
Agee’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915, the
prose-poem that Samuel Barber set so
memorably for voice and orchestra in 1947.
That similarity, he says, “dictated not only
what I started hearing musically but the
orchestration.” Puckett therefore scored
There Was a Child Went Forth for the
same instrumental forces.
A brief side note: Founded in 1798, the
United States Marine Band became known
as “The President’s Own” in 1801 thanks to
its regular history of performances at the
White House. According to Puckett, First
Lady Dolley Madison took a special interest
in the band and had it expanded into
a chamber orchestra by adding a small
number of string players—“limited to how
many could fit on the White House stage.”
Whereas Puckett views Agee’s text as
conveying “a rather pessimistic view of the
narrator being at a crossroads in his life,”
he points out that “Whitman’s poem uses
a lot of the same literary devices but has a
very optimistic tone to my ear.” Throughout
There Was a Child Went Forth, “the
listener is invited to join the child on their
growth, self-discovery, and self-realization
journey.”
What to listen for
Puckett provides these comments: “The
music’s contemplative and introspective
mood reflects the child’s journey of selfdiscovery
and exploration in the poem.
The orchestra provides a rich harmonic
backdrop for the tenor’s voice, which
soars above the textured accompaniment.
Throughout the piece, the melody is transformed
through a series of variations,
reflecting the evolving nature of the child’s
experiences.”
Laura Karpman
Born on March 1, 1959, in Los Angeles;
currently resides in Playa del Rey,
California
Ask Your Mama:
12 Moods for Jazz,
Parts One and Three
Composed: 2008
First performance: March 16, 2009, at
Carnegie Hall, with Jessye Norman,
Cassandra Wilson, The Roots, and the
March 23, 2024 19

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20 March 23, 2024

Orchestra of St. Luke’s led by George
Manahan
Duration: c. Part 1: c. 24 minutes; Part 3:
c. 52 minutes
Scored for 3 flutes (2nd doubling piccolo,
3rd doubling alto flute), oboe (doubling
English horn), clarinet (doubling
bass clarinet), bassoon (doubling
contrabassoon), tenor saxophone, 4
horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, 4
percussionists, timpani, harp, piano, and
strings, along with solo soprano, solo jazz
vocalist(s), solo spoken word artists, and
pre-recorded sound samples
Ask Your Mama: 12 Moods for Jazz
is the longest, most ambitious
poem by James Mercer Langston Hughes
(1901-67)—in one sense, the neglected
Leaves of Grass of American literary history.
As the composer Laura Karpman
aptly stated in a radio interview in 2016:
“It’s a great poem—period. It’s a great
American poem that’s often relegated
to African American studies. Everyone
reads Leaves of Grass, why not also read
Ask Your Mama? It is a great work of
American literature—period.”
Hughes, the revered poet, playwright,
novelist, and activist who became famous
as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance,
indeed counted Walt Whitman among
his models—with whose status as a gay
artist he may have felt a special affinity—
along with Paul Laurence Dunbar and
Carl Sandburg. A visit to the 1960 Newport
Jazz Festival seems to have inspired
this epic version of his longstanding
practice of “jazz poetry,” in which
Hughes transformed linguistic virtuosity
and the sensitivity of a keen observer
into a poetic, improvisatory parallel to
jazz. His dream was to collaborate with
the likes of Charles Mingus to realize the
music for which Hughes provides clues
and directions throughout the text—a
project that sadly never came to fruition.
Fast forward to the early 2000s, when
Laura Karpman went on a search for jazz
poetry that would be suitable to combine
with a score she had originally written
for CBS, only to be told it was considered
“too out there.” When she came across
the text of Ask Your Mama—Hughes had
his epic printed entirely in upper case
letters, with musical annotations in the
margins—Karpman experienced a shock
of recognition.
“I grew up listening to jazz and classical
music, as well as a host of other
sounds,” she writes in her preface to the
score. “My mother would alternate wellworn
LPs of Stravinsky, Bernstein, Miles
Davis, and Wes Montgomery with occasional
flamenco and Hebrew folk songs.”
For his part, Hughes calls for “rapid stylistic
changes” in his annotations to the
poems, which list popular songs, specific
classical pieces, and folk sources in
an Ivesian cornucopia side-by-side with
musical icons whose signature styles are
to be imitated—“from German lieder to
traditional 12-bar blues,” as Karpman
puts it.
“This world, where Strauss’s Die Nacht
and Miles Davis’s So What live side-byside,
is a world in which I feel very much
at home,” she writes. “Not only is it familiar
from the eclectic music of my childhood,
but also from my student days,
when I studied at Juilliard with Milton
Babbitt by day and scat sang in jazz
clubs by night, and then later as a film
composer, where one is asked to be versatile—sometimes
even gymnastic—in
March 23, 2024 21

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musical thought. In Ask Your Mama I
saw the possibility of working with the
most brilliant, erudite ‘director,’ Langston
Hughes.”
Karpman is a Juilliard-trained, multiple-Emmy
Award-winning composer
who writes prolifically for film, television,
video games, and the stage. Her 2016
opera Balls, which treats the 1973 “Battle
of the Sexes” tennis match between Billie
Jean King and Bobby Riggs, will be given
its world premiere staging next month
across the Bay by Opera Parallèle and
SFJAZZ.
Karpman’s fascination with Ask Your
Mama inspired her to embark on a collaboration
with the soprano Jessye Norman,
for whom she envisioned writing
the score and who became co-creator of
the project. “We agreed to use this opportunity,
through music, to have an honest
and impassioned conversation between
Black and white America,” says the composer.
“We both felt Ask Your Mama told
the history of America through culture,
wit, beauty, and pain.”
Following the world premiere at a soldout
Carnegie Hall concert in 2009—part
of the Honor! Festival curated by Norman
to celebrate African American music and
culture—a Grammy-nominated recording
featuring sopranos Janai Brugger
and Angela Brown and jazz vocalist
Nnenna Freelon was released in 2015 on
the Avie Records label. Hughes dedicated
Ask Your Mama “to Louis Armstrong,
the greatest horn blower of them all,” and
Karpman and Norman dedicated their
setting “to our beloved mothers, as well
as to Edgar Beitzel for introducing us,
and finally to the great Carnegie Hall for
commissioning the work.”
What to listen for
Together with Norman, Karpman
organized a “playlist” of Hughes’s musical
references and allusions throughout
the margins of the poem. This and
a recording of Hughes himself reciting
Ask Your Mama that she unearthed
became the composer’s “essential tools,
the building blocks of what you will hear
tonight. This playlist became the basis of
the archival sounds, triggered as samples,
that you will hear coming from two
onstage laptops.”
Karpman sets the text for four principal
roles, “none firmly stuck in one
tradition: an opera singer who swings;
a jazz singer(s) who loves lieder, who is
the siren, the mother, the child; a spoken
word artist who is a poet himself, a
Greek chorus and a preacher; and Langston
Hughes.” The orchestra members
are asked “to do much more than simply
play their instruments” as they realize
what Karpman calls a “‘mashup’ of many
kinds and styles of American music.”
Felix Mendelssohn
Born on February 3, 1809, in Hamburg,
Germany; died on November 4, 1847, in
Leipzig, Germany
Overture to A Midsummer
Night’s Dream
Composed: 1826
First performance: February 20, 1827,
in Stettin, Germany, with Carl Loewe
conducting
Duration: c. 12 minutes
March 23, 2024 23

Scored for pairs of flutes, oboes,
clarinets, bassoons, horns, and
trumpets; tuba (ophicleide); timpani,
and strings
The music Felix Mendelssohn composed
for Shakespeare’s A Midsummer
Night’s Dream spans nearly
two decades. Its best-known component—with
the exception of the later
“Wedding March”—is the Overture,
the product of a 17-year-old genius
and among the towering achievements
of prodigy composers. With
the Overture from 1826, Mendelssohn
developed some features that
became signatures of his style—above
all the gossamer-textured, scherzolike
writing associated here with the
fairies, which he had already explored
in his dazzling Octet for Strings of the
previous year. The Overture distills
the essence of Shakespeare’s comedy
from 1595/96 into a purely instrumental
narrative. In this sense, it
looks ahead to the Romantic innovation
of the symphonic poem.
Inspired by reading Shakespeare’s
play in a recent German translation,
Mendelssohn initially wrote his Overture
to A Midsummer Night’s Dream
as an independent concert work
(rather than to introduce a production
of the comedy). And the music
makes perfect sense on its own terms.
Indeed, Mendelssohn was reluctant
to attach a programmatic description
to the score, though his music critic
friend A. B. Marx later described in
his memoirs how he had encouraged
the young composer to enrich his
first draft so as to encompass each
of the different character types and
their respective realms as depicted by
Shakespeare in A Midsummer Night’s
Dream.
What to listen for
This variety is rooted in the four
woodwind chords, oscillating between
minor and major, that are heard at
the outset. Like the famous Masonic
chords that start Mozart’s Overture
to The Magic Flute, they recur several
times and frame the piece. Liszt
compared them to “slowly drooping
and rising eyelids, between which is
depicted a charming dream-world of
the loveliest contrasts.”
Mendelssohn conjures the fairies
with lighter-than-air, mercurial textures,
in contrast to the dignified stateliness
of Theseus’s court in Athens.
The longing of the misaligned pairs
of lovers that move the plot forward
is mirrored in meandering lyricism,
while a rhythmically vibrant idea is
associated with the “rude mechanicals,”
the hilariously incompetent
amateur acting company led by Peter
Quince. Mendelssohn even includes
a musical signifier of Nick Bottom’s
“braying” after he is metamorphosed
into an ass. In an especially clever
adaptation of classical sonata form, he
reverses the order in which the themes
are reprised so as to make musical
events correspond more closely to the
play’s denouement, which returns us
from the nocturnal forest to the “real”
world of the Athenian court.
Program notes ©2024 Thomas May
24 March 23, 2024

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March 23, 2024 25

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26 March 23, 2024

March 23, 2024 27

28 March 23, 2024

Music Director Joseph Young
photo by Louis Bryant Photography
Joseph Young balances a flourishing
guest conducting career with leadership
roles as Music Director of the
Berkeley Symphony and Artistic Director
of Ensembles at the Peabody Conservatory.
“Joseph Young has had quite a year
. . . impressive,” wrote Washington Classical
Review of his 2023 National Symphony
Orchestra debut, which capped
a year of debuts that included leading
Jeanine Tesori’s Blue with Washington
National Opera, the LA Phil at the
Hollywood Bowl, and NYO2 at Carnegie
Hall and on tour in the Dominican
Republic, as well as collaborations with
composer Du Yun, pianist Lara Downes,
artist William Kentridge, bass-baritone
Davóne Tines, and icon Debbie Allen.
Other recent and upcoming guest
engagements include the San Francisco
Symphony, Seattle Symphony, New
Jersey Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony,
Detroit Symphony, New World
Symphony Orchestra, Spoleto Festival
Orchestra, Orquestra Sinfónica do
Porto Casa da Música (Portugal), the
Orquesta Sinfónica y Coro de RTVE
(Spain), and the Mzansi National Philharmonic
Orchestra (South Africa). In
July 2024, he will conduct the Cincinnati
Symphony Orchestra in the Cincinnati
Opera’s world-premiere staging of
the Liverpool Oratorio, Paul McCartney’s
acclaimed 1991 work for orchestra,
chorus, and soloists.
Earlier in his career, Joseph served as
the Assistant Conductor of the Atlanta
Symphony, Music Director of the Atlanta
Symphony Youth Orchestra and Resident
Conductor of the Phoenix Symphony.
He also served as the League of
American Orchestras Conducting Fellow
at the Buffalo Philharmonic and Baltimore
Symphony Orchestra.
Joseph holds an Artist’s Diploma
from the Peabody Conservatory, studying
with Gustav Meier and Markand
Thakar. Mentors include Jorma Panula,
Robert Spano, and Marin Alsop, with
whom he maintains an artistic partnership.
Now a mentor himself, Joseph
shapes the future of classical music
through his dynamic engagements with
major symphony orchestras, his steadfast
commitment to teaching in classrooms
and concert halls, and his service
on the board of New Music USA.
March 23, 2024 29

Dining Guide
Open Tuesday-Sunday
for Lunch and Dinner
Since 1922
Mon-Sat 8am-7pm Sun 10am-5pm
3068 Claremont Ave, Berkeley
(510) 652-2490
“Dining is and
always was
an artistic
opportunity.”
—Frank Lloyd Wright
30 March 23, 2024

Composer & Guest Artist Bios
photo by Maarten de Boer
Laura Karpman, composer
bold, incandescent talent, composer
A Laura Karpman creates powerful
and imaginative scores that push the
boundaries of storytelling. Her awardwinning
music, spanning film, television,
theater, interactive media, and live performance,
reflects an audaciously creative,
prodigious, fresh spirit. Karpman collaborates
with the most creative filmmakers of
our time, including Misha Green, Steven
Spielberg, Alex Gibney, Kasi Lemmons,
Sam Pollard, and Eleanor, Francis Ford,
and Sofia Coppola.
The five-time Emmy winner’s scores
span the Marvel Studios’ series The Marvels,
What If?, and Ms. Marvel, the HBO
hit series Lovecraft Country, the 2020
Oscar-nominated Walk Run Cha-Cha,
and the Discovery Channel docuseries
Why We Hate, for which she recently won
an Emmy Award.
Karpman received a Critic’s Choice
award for her song, Jump, co-written with
frequent collaborators Raphael Saadiq
and Taura Stinson and sung by Cynthia
Erivo. Her animated work includes Sitara,
directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, and
produced by Darla Anderson and Gloria
Steinem. Her celebrated scores for interactive
media include Guardians of Middle
Earth, Everquest 2, Kung Fu Panda 2,
and Untold Legends Dark Kingdom.
Across concert halls, Karpman is well
known for her Grammy award-winning
album, Ask Your Mama, a multimedia
opera based on the iconic cycle of poems
by Langston Hughes. Other notable works
include All American, commissioned
by The Los Angeles Philharmonic at the
Hollywood Bowl; Brass Ceiling, commissioned
and recorded by The U.S. Army
Band, And Still We Dream, commissioned
by Lyric Opera of Kansas City honoring
100 years of suffrage; and Balls, an opera
chronicling Billie Jean King’s 1973 “Battle
of the Sexes” tennis match.
A fierce champion for inclusion in
Hollywood, after founding the Alliance
for Women Film Composers, Karpman
became the first American woman composer
inducted into the music branch of
the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences
and was subsequently elected to be
its first female governor. During her time
as governor, Karpman has made indelible
strides, advocating for Academy membership
for dozens of underrepresented composers
and songwriters and spearheading
the Academy Women’s Initiative.
Karpman is an advisor for the Sundance
Film Institute and on the faculty of the
USC Film Scoring Program and the San
Francisco Conservatory. She received a
doctorate from The Juilliard School where
she studied with Milton Babbitt. Karpman
lives and works in Los Angeles with her
wife, composer Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum,
their son, and two dogs.
March 23, 2024 31

power to create transcendent experiences
using charismatic musical language.
Joel Puckett, composer
Sponsored by Marilyn & Richard Collier
Joel Puckett is a composer, leaving
both audiences and the press buzzing.
His music has been described as, “soaringly
lyrical” (Minneapolis Star Tribune),
“Puccini-esque” (Wall Street Journal),
and “containing a density within a clarity,
polyphony within the simple and—most
importantly—beautiful and seemingly
spiritual.” (Audiophile Audition). Parterre
Box recently proclaimed, “Puckett should
be a household name,” and the Philadelphia
Inquirer’s David Patrick Stearns
mused, “If the name Joel Puckett isn’t
etched into your brain, it should be.” In
2011 NPR Music listed him as one of the
top 100 composers under 40 in the world.
Hailed as “visionary” (Washington
Post) and “an astonishingly original voice”
(Philadelphia Inquirer), his music is performed
by the leading artists of our day
and is consistently recognized by organizations
such as the American Composers
Forum, BMI, Chorus America, National
Public Radio, and the American Bandmasters
Association. Puckett’s music
attracts diverse performers and listeners
through its emotional energy and commitment.
Melding tradition with innovation,
his distinctive style grows from his
The Fix, a grand opera commissioned
by Minnesota Opera, premiered in March
2019 to packed houses, enthusiastic audiences,
and largely effusive praise. With
a libretto by Academy Award and Tony
Award winner Eric Simonson, the work
depicts the rise and fall of the 1919 Chicago
White Sox. It is a tragedy ripe with power,
romance, and redemption, set against the
backdrop of America’s favorite pastime.
Puckett’s earlier commissions have been
premiered and performed worldwide to
exuberant critical acclaim. His double
concerto for clarinet, flute, and orchestra,
Concerto Duo, was premiered by the
Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra in
2012 when Puckett was Composer-in-Residence
with soloists Anthony McGill and
Demarre McGill. The Chicago Tribune’s
John von Rhein praised the piece, saying
it “soar[ed] in intertwining dialogues,
jazzy and lyrical, with shimmering waves
of post-minimalism.”
His flute concerto, The Shadow of Sirius,
premiered in 2010 and has received
more than 200 performances and has
been recorded multiple times, including
2015’s Naxos Surround Sound disc,
Shadow of Sirius, which received a 2016
Grammy Nomination. Currently the
Chair of Music Theory, Ear Training, and
Piano Skills at the Peabody Conservatory
in Baltimore, where he has received
a 2022 Johns Hopkins Catalyst Award,
the 2022 Johns Hopkins Alumni Association
Excellence in Teaching Award,
and the 2021 Peabody Conservatory Student
Affairs Mental Health Ally Award,
Puckett presents workshops nationwide
and frequently serves as an adjudicator
at competitions for rising composers. His
music is represented worldwide by Bill
Holab Music.
32 March 23, 2024

photo by Dimitry Loiseau
A 2018 recipient of the Bay Area Jazz &
Blues Artist Lifetime Achievement Award,
Clairdee is a passionate mentor and advocate
for music education, having served as
a Professor of Jazz Voice at the San Francisco
Conservatory of Music and a Teaching
Artist for SFJAZZ and San Francisco
Symphony. She sits on the Board of Directors
for Jazz in the Neighborhood and is
a member of the Independent Musicians
Alliance.
Clairdee, jazz vocalist
In a career spanning some four decades,
vocalist Clairdee has performed around
the world as an internationally touring
artist who’s collaborated with some of
America’s most celebrated jazz masters,
including Dick Hyman, Bucky Pizzarelli,
Houston Person, Cyrus Chestnut, Russell
Malone, and Ken Peplowski.
Deeply informed by the music’s
departed masters, Clairdee puts a personal
stamp on whatever she sings, a gift
aptly described by the inimitable Nancy
Wilson, who declared that “in the tradition
of all great vocalists she infuses each
song with her unique style while always
remaining true to the song itself.” Equally
at home singing various idioms in various
settings, she works with symphony
orchestras, big bands, small jazz combos,
and intimate duos and leads her worldclass
band.
Clairdee’s discography as a leader
includes four highly regarded albums
on her Declare Music label. Her album,
A Love Letter to Lena, garnered international
press and was acknowledged
in three categories in the 2020 Grammy
first-round nominations.
Olivia Johnson, mezzo-soprano
Olivia Johnson has been recognized
by Opera News as a “standout . . .
commanding and reassuring, with the
timbre of a contralto and the astounding
upper extension of a dramatic mezzo” for
her portrayal of Girlfriend 3 in Jeanine
Tesori and Tazewell Thompson’s opera,
Blue, in production with Detroit Opera
from 2021 to 2022.
At the beginning of this season, Johnson
had the privilege to debut at The Metropolitan
Opera as an Alto I soloist in
X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X by
Anthony Davis. This past summer, Johnson
was featured as a Gerdine Young Artist
in the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis’
March 23, 2024 33

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34 March 23, 2024

Summer Festival 2023. Nearing the end of
the festival, Johnson had the most exhilarating
evening where she stepped in as
the cover of Monisha, making her debut
in Damien Sneed and Karen Chilton’s
reimagined opera of Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha.
Wall Street Journal noted that
“Olivia Johnson . . . delivered with aplomb
the aria in which Treemonisha’s mother
recounts her daughter’s origins.”
Johnson was awarded an encouragement
award in the 2023 George and Nora
London Foundation Competition in NYC.
In the summer of 2022, she attended
Chautauqua Opera, where she covered
the role of the Mother in Thumbprint by
Kamala Sankaram and performed the role
of Gertrude Stein in Mother of Us All.
During the 2021/22 season, Johnson
had the distinction of appearing twice in
recital alongside her former teacher, mentor,
and legendary tenor, Professor George
Shirley, in Kerrytown Concert House’s
recital series, Passing the Torch I and
Passing the Torch II. In the summer of
2021, she attended the Vocal Institute of
Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara,
CA—where she received an Encouragement
Award for Marilyn Horne’s
Art Song Competition. She also made
her debut in the spring of 2021 with the
AEPEX Contemporary Ensemble as the
soloist for Julia Perry’s Stabat Mater. As
a result of that collaboration, she went on
to become the new Artist in Residence for
AEPEX Contemporary Ensemble for their
2021/22 season.
Johnson has also made soloist appearances
with White Snake Projects, Detroit
Opera’s Touring Ensemble, Opera MODO,
Rackham Choir, Opera NexGen, and the
Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Other roles
include Dorabella in Così fan tutte; Gertrude
in Roméo et Juliett; Mercédès in
Carmen; Maurya in Riders to the Sea;
Sister Mathilde in Dialogue of Carmélites;
Conchetta in Night Trip.
A native of North Carolina, Johnson
began studying voice performance in 2010
at East Carolina University, earning her
B.A. degree and graduating in 2014. Johnson
then went on to complete her graduate
studies at the University of Michigan,
earning her M.M. under the tutelage of
Professor George Shirley. She now studies
with Jane Randolph. This coming summer,
she will be making her debut at the
Vienna Opera Festival as Donna Elvira in
Don Giovanni by W.A. Mozart.
Wendel Patrick, narrator
Wendel Patrick has been referred to
as “David Foster Wallace reincarnated
as a sound engineer” by Urbanite
Magazine and “wildly talented” by the
Baltimore Sun. He has been referred to by
XLR8R magazine as “a hip-hop producer
that could easily make any fan of Squarepusher,
Boards of Canada, or Madlib flip
out.” The alter-ego of classical and jazz
pianist Kevin Gift, Patrick is rapidly making
a name for himself as a producer. His
five albums, Sound, Forthcoming, JDWP,
Passage, and Travel, were all produced
without sampling—with Patrick playing
every note of every instrument, crafted
electronically.
March 23, 2024 35

Upcoming Concerts
symphonic series
Pictures at an Exhibition
Zellerbach Hall
Sunday, JUN 2, 2024, 4pm
CHAMBER series
Play on Words
Piedmont Center for the Arts • Sunday, APR. 14, 2024, 4pm
SPECIAL EVENTs
Berkeley Symphony SPRING BENEFIT:
Portraits of BErkeley
DoubleTree Marina Berkeley • FRIday, MAY 17, 2024, 6:30pm
More information at Berkeleysymphony.org
Interested in
Advertising with
Berkeley Symphony?
email:
Marketing@BerkeleySymphony.org
or call:
510.841.2800
36 March 23, 2024

Equally at home performing on stage
with his band, behind two turntables,
beatboxing, improvising, or playing a
Mozart concerto on stage with an orchestra,
Patrick has toured Europe on several
occasions and performed throughout the
world with renowned spoken word artist
and poet Ursula Rucker. In 2011, Patrick
co-founded the Baltimore Boom Bap
Society with Erik Spangler (DJ Dubble8),
who performs improvised hip-hop shows
with hand-picked musicians and emcees.
The group’s collaborative performance
with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
of Igor Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale was
named “Best Mesmerizing Performance of
2016” by Baltimore Magazine.
Patrick’s music has seen airplay across
the country on NPR stations, most notably
on Out of the Blocks, an award-winning
radio documentary program he co-produces
with radio producer Aaron Henkin
for NPR affiliate WYPR that has been featured
on the BBC. An avid photographer
and videographer, his photography has
been exhibited in several art galleries,
including the Baltimore Museum of Art.
Patrick shoots all the accompanying documentary
photography and videography for
Out of the Blocks.
Patrick majored in music and political
science at Emory University. He
earned his M.M. in Piano Performance
as a scholarship student at the Northwestern
University School of Music in
Evanston, Illinois. Patrick was a full-time
faculty member at Loyola University in
Baltimore, Maryland, from 2001 to 2013,
teaching piano, introduction to music
theory, music history, and electronic
music production. He currently teaches
“Hip Hop Music Production: History and
Practice” at The Peabody Music Conservatory—the
first course of its kind—to be
taught at a major traditional music conservatory
anywhere in the United States.
Nicholas Phan, tenor
Described by the Boston Globe as “one
of the world’s most remarkable singers,”
American tenor Nicholas Phan is
increasingly recognized as an artist of distinction.
Praised for his keen intelligence,
captivating stage presence, and natural
musicianship, he performs regularly with
the world’s leading orchestras and opera
companies. Also an avid recitalist, in
2010 he co-founded the Collaborative Arts
Institute of Chicago (CAIC) to promote art
song and vocal chamber music, where he
serves as artistic director.
A celebrated recording artist, Phan’s
album Clairières—a recording of songs by
Lili and Nadia Boulanger—was nominated
for the 2020 Grammy Award for Best
Classical Solo Vocal Album. His album
Gods and Monsters, was nominated for
the same award in 2017. He is the first
singer of Asian descent to be nominated
in the history of the category, which has
been awarded by the Recording Academy
since 1959. Phan’s growing discography
also includes a Grammy-nominated
recording of Stravinsky’s Pulcinella with
Pierre Boulez and the Chicago Symphony,
Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette with Michael
Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco
March 23, 2024 37

Symphony, an album of Bach’s secular
cantatas with Masaaki Suzuki and Bach
Collegium Japan, Bach’s St. John Passion
(in which he sings both the Evangelist and
the tenor arias) with Apollo’s Fire, and the
world premiere recordings of two orchestral
song cycles: The Old Burying Ground
by Evan Chambers and Elliott Carter’s A
Sunbeam’s Architecture.
Phan has appeared with many of the
leading orchestras in North America and
Europe, including the Cleveland Orchestra,
New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony,
Chicago Symphony, San Francisco
Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic,
Philadelphia Orchestra, Bavarian Radio
Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony,
English Chamber Orchestra, Strasbourg
Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony,
Philharmonia and Orchestra of London.
Phan’s many opera credits include
appearances with the Los Angeles Opera,
Houston Grand Opera, Maggio Musicale
in Florence, Deutsche Oper am Rhein,
and Frankfurt Opera. His growing repertoire
includes the title roles in Bernstein’s
Candide, Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex and
Handel’s Acis and Galatea, Almaviva in
Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Fenton in Falstaff,
Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, and Don Ottavio
in Don Giovanni. He has served as
guest curator for projects with the Bravo!
Vail Music Festival, Laguna Beach Music
Festival, and San Francisco Performances,
where he served as the vocal artist-in-residence
from 2014-2018.
A graduate of the University of Michigan,
Phan is the 2012 recipient of the Paul
C Boylan Distinguished Alumni Award,
the 2018 Christopher Kendall Award, and
the 2006 Sullivan Foundation Award. He
also studied at the Manhattan School of
Music and the Aspen Music Festival and
School and is an alumnus of the Houston
Grand Opera Studio.
Arianna Rodriguez, soprano
Poised and playful—soprano Arianna
Rodriguez has been praised by the
San Francisco Chronicle as “crystalline”
for her performance in the Merola Opera
Program’s 2022 Grand Finale concert.
Her performance as Musetta in Opera
North’s La Bohème was described by the
Eagle Times as a “a delight . . . a brilliant
soprano delivering her wit with flair.” Currently
a second-year Adler Fellow with San
Francisco Opera, Rodriguez sang the role
of Gianetta in L’elisir d’Amore, made her
mainstage debut in Strauss’ Die Frau ohne
Schatten, and sang the role of Musetta in
the company’s production of Bohème out
of the Box. Leading cover roles at SFO
include Chrisann Brennan in The (R)evolution
of Steve Jobs and Julie in Rhiannon
Giddens’ and Michael Abels’ Omar. Rodriguez
stars in the title role in Amadeo Vives’
Doña Francisquita in the Merola Opera
Program’s Schwabacher Summer Concert.
Other recent performances include
a staged production of Bernstein’s Mass
under the baton of Marin Alsop.
Of Guyanese and Puerto Rican heritage,
Rodriguez was a District Winner and
Regional Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera
Laffont Competition, a finalist in the Giulio
Gari International Vocal Competition, and
received encouragement awards from the
Vero Beach Opera Rising Star Vocal Competition
and Gerda Lissner Foundation
International Vocal Competition.
38 March 23, 2024

About Berkeley Symphony
photo by Burgundy Visuals
Berkeley Symphony is unique among
Bay Area and American orchestras
for its commitment to innovation, community,
and excellence. Founded in 1971
in the intellectual and artistic nexus
of Berkeley, California, the Orchestra
is committed to performing, premiering,
and commissioning new music that
reflects its home city’s culturally diverse
people and the heady creative climate.
In the 2019/20 season, Berkeley
Symphony entered a new era under the
leadership of Joseph Young, the Orchestra’s
fourth Music Director in its 50-year
history, following a highly successful
February 2019 debut acclaimed by critics
and audiences alike. In addition
to building on the Orchestra’s artistic
innovation, creativity, and adventurous
programming, Maestro Young is committed
to amplifying the voices of underrepresented
composers and artists and
continues to share diverse stories that
reflect the local Berkeley community.
March 23, 2024 39

Music in the Schools
photo by David Weiland
Crafted in partnership with Berkeley Unified School District, Berkeley Symphony’s
Music in the Schools (MITS) program provides a comprehensive and inclusive
music curriculum to over 4,700 Berkeley public school students each year and is
recognized by the League of American Orchestras as one of the country’s top music
education programs. Ming Luke has served as the Education Director since 2007 and
continues to bring joy, laughter, and music to the students in the MITS Program.
Launched in Fall 2022, the Elevate initiative is a series of additional support opportunities
to respond to two major transition points where BIPOC student participation
and engagement drops more significantly than in other populations: the beginning
of fourth grade, when students select instruments in band and orchestra, and high
school seniors interested in music as a college path and career.
We thank all who contribute to the MITS program, including those giving up to $500 annually
and those whose gifts have been received since press time. Recognition levels exclude fundraising
event auction item purchases and purchases of base-level tickets to fundraising events.
While every attempt has been made to assure accuracy in our list of supporters, omissions and
misspellings may occur. Please call 510.841.2800 to report errors. We appreciate the opportunity
to correct our records.
40 March 23, 2024

MUSIC IN THE SCHOOLS
SPONSORS
Gifts received between
February 28, 2023 and February 28, 2024
$25,000 and above
California Arts Council
$15,000 and above
Bernard E. & Alba Witkin Foundation
Music Performance Trust Fund
National Endowment for the Arts
$5,000 and above
Suzanne & Italo Calpestri
Mr. & Mrs. Herrick Jackson
The Familian Levinson Foundation
Sandy McCoy & Natasha Beery
Lisa R. Taylor
Edward Vine & Ellen Singer-Vine
$2,500 and above
Laura & Paul V. Bennett
Kathleen Crandall & Lori Gitter
Kathleen G. Henschel & John W. Dewes
Demeter Markel
Deborah O’Grady & John Adams
$1,000 and above
Anonymous
Susan & Jim Acquistapace
Christian Fritze & Catherine Atcheson
Dr. Charles M. Crane
The Grubb Co.
Buzz & Lisa Hines
Jan Shohara McCutcheon
Meyer Sound Laboratories, Inc.
$500 and above
Chevron
Ronald & Susan Choy
Ann & Jack Eastman
Wendy Paige Markel
Deb Sanderson & Michael O’Hare
S. Shariq Yosufzai & Brian James
March 23, 2024 41

Donate today at
berkeleysymphony.org
or BY calling
(510) 841-2800.
Your gifts
created a glorious
past and present.
Now, Invest for the future.
When the Berkeley Promenade Orchestra played its first concert
in 1971, no one could have predicted the trajectory that would
follow. Since these humble beginnings more than 50 years ago,
Berkeley Symphony has touched countless lives with inspiring
concerts full of adventurous programming and a passionate
commitment to music education in our public schools. As we
look to Berkeley Symphony’s future, we are challenging
ourselves to make symphonic music more accessible to the
Berkeley community, and to create new opportunities for a
greater diversity of composers, musicians, and guest artists who
would not otherwise be heard.
Please join us in stewarding the future of Berkeley cultural life
by making a donation. Your generous support will help set the
stage for the next 50 years of live performances and
educational programs that engage the intellect, spark curiosity,
and delight the spirit.
42 March 23, 2024

Your Catholic School
in Berkeley
The School of the Madeleine is a vibrant, inclusive, K-8 Catholic school
in Berkeley. We are dedicated to the education of the whole child—mind,
body, and spirit. Our leadership is committed to academic excellence,
spiritual development, and social justice.
We believe that every student is exceptional, and in the tradition of
Catholic education, our mission is to help them become lifelong learners
and compassionate citizens who care for one another. We welcome every
family with open arms and invite you to learn more about our community.
Come see what we are all about! Call for tour: 510.526.4744
1225 Milvia Street, Berkeley, CA 94709 • www.themadeleine.com
March 23, 2024 43

44 March 23, 2024

Annual Support
Thank you to the following individuals for making the programs of Berkeley Symphony
possible. A symphony is as strong as the community that supports it.
Gifts received between February 28, 2023 and February 28, 2024
SPONSOR CIRCLE GIFTS
$100,000 and above
Gordon Getty
Kathleen G. Henschel & John W. Dewes
The Estate of Richard & Joan Herring
$50,000 and above
Rose Ray & Robert Kroll
$25,000 and above
Anonymous
Laura & Paul V. Bennett
$10,000 and above
Susan & Jim Acquistapace
Natasha Beery & Sandy McCoy
Mr. David Burkhart
Suzanne & Italo Calpestri
Gray Cathrall
Susan & Ronald Choy
Kathleen Crandall & Lori Gitter
Bela & Shikiri Hightower-Gaskin
Janet Maestre
Harriet H. Simpson
Lisa R. Taylor
Paul Templeton & Darrell Louie
Brent Townshend & Michèle Lamarre
S. Shariq Yosufzai & Brian James
$5,000 and above
Anonymous
Dianne Crosby & Scott Hamilton
John & Paula Gambs
Gail S. & Robert B. Hetler
Buzz & Lisa Hines
Mark & Lynne Humphrey
Edith Jackson & Thomas W. Richardson Jr.
Mr. & Mrs. Herrick Jackson
William Knuttel
Jan Shohara McCutcheon
Pat & Merrill Shanks
Edward Vine & Ellen Singer-Vine
$1,500 and above
Anonymous (2)
Catherine Atcheson & Christian Fritze
Michele Benson
Joy Carlin
Marilyn & Richard Collier
Dr. Charles M. Crane
John & Charli Danielsen
Mary & Stanley Friedman
Deborah L. Gould, MD
Ellen Hahn
Jane Hammond
Anna & Will Hoover
Jan Shohara McCutcheon
Alan Harper & Carol Baird
Will & Anna Hoover
Helen Marcus
Demeter Markel
Fred Jacobson & Mary Murtagh
Nina Grove & Kenneth Johnson
Helen Marcus
Amelie C. Mel De Fontenay & John Stenzel
Deborah O’Grady & John Adams
Scott Sparling
Alison Teeman & Michael Yovino-Young
March 23, 2024 45

FRIENDS OF BERKELEY
SYMPHONY GIFTS
$750 and above
Anonymous
Alexandra Armantrading
Judith L. Bloom
Bradley Ceynowa
Carol Christ
Carolyn Doelling
Daniel & Kate Funk
Theresa Gabel & Timothy Zumwalt
Sophie Hahn & Eric Bjerkholt
Eugenia Han
Ann Fischer Hecht
Carrie McAlister
Bebe & Colin McRae
Helen & John Meyer
Jane & Bill Neilson
Lara Elizabeth Richmond
Ginny & William Schultz
Scott Sparling
David & Pennie Warren
Elouise D Wilson
$500 and above
John Caner & Paul Booth
Kathy Carnevale
Joe & Sue Daly
Blaine Devine
Beth & Norman Edelstein
Sandra Emerson
Stuart & Sharon Gronningen
Dr. Bede John Healey
Kathy Huff
Ms. Wendy Paige Markel
Patrick R. McCabe
Emily & Brian McKibben
Noel & Penny Nellis
John Collins & David Nicolls
Trish Prior
Erin & Mark Rhoades
Deb Sanderson & Michael O’Hare
Yvette Vloeberghs
David & Pennie Warren
Philip Wilder
$250 and above
Anonymous (3)
Patricia & Ronald Adler
Janet Popesco Archibald
Ms. Joan Balter
Gillian Kuehner & Norman Bookstein
Beth Crovitz
Mr. Dennis Dedomenico
Paul Dresher & Philippa Kelly
Eugene (Gene) Fassiotto
Ednah Beth Friedman
Patricia Hines
Anne Hollingsworth-Haley
Mr. Jay Ifshin
Phyllis Isaacson
Todd Kerr
Mr. Javier Jimmy Lopez
Susan Malick
Ms. Dola Mia Masia
Mr. Tom Parrish
David Petta & Virginia Erck
Julie Richter
Stephen & Linda Rosen Family Fund
Jack Shoemaker
Robert Sinai & Susanna Schevill
Dr. Don Stanford & Michiyo Kawachi
Marta Tobey
Ama Torrance
Mr. Takato Umeda
Deborah & Bob Van Nest
Mr. Gary Lee Wendt-Bogear
Carolyn West
Kara Whittington
$100 and above
Anonymous (3)
The Honorable Jesse Arreguin
David I. Berland
46 March 23, 2024

Sandra Bernard
Ruth Botchan
Ragna Boynton
The Mary Bridges Family
Mark Chaitkin & Cecilia Storr
Richard & Christine Colton
Mr. Peter Cook
Chris & Lynn Crook
Franklyn D’Antonio
Richard Diamond
Robert Dorsett
Marilee Enge
Ms. Margery Eriksson
Ms. Tiffany N. Fajardo
Roland & Lois Feller
Ned & Veronica Fennie
Isabelle Gerard
Edward Gordon
Nelson Graburn
Holly Hartley
Valerie Herr
Dixie Hersh
William Hill
Christine Izaret
Mr. Kenneth Kuchman
Andrew Lazarus & Naomi Janowitz
Kim & Barbara Marienthal
James and Jayne Matthews
Nancy Mennel & David Kessler
Junichi & Sarah Miyazaki
Denise & Peter Montgomery
Geraldine & Gary Morrison
Ms. Mykael L Moss
Ms. Ruth Okamoto Nagano
Craig N. Oren
Wendy Polivka
Alicia Queen
Joel Myerson and Peggy Radel
Thomas & Mary Reicher
Terry Rillera
Marc Roth
Steven F Scholl
Margaret Seely
Eugene Sor
Sylvia Sorell & Daniel Kane
Bruce Stangeland
Christine Staples
Catharina Swanstrom
Liz Varnhagen & Steven Greenberg
HONOR & MEMORIAL Gifts
In memory of our son
C. Stephen Ray
Rose Ray & Robert Kroll
In honor of Ming Luke
Lisa R. Taylor
In memory of Sue Hone
Craig Oren
In honor of Janet Maestre
Sylvia Sorell & Daniel Kane
In memory of Bennett Markel
Dr. Charles Crane
Demeter Markel
Paul Dresher & Philippa Kelly
Ann & Jack Eastman
Buzz & Lisa Hines
Dr. Don Stanford & Michiyo Kawachi
In honor of René Mandel
Anonymous
Patricia & Ronald Adler
Susan & Ronald Choy
John & Charli Danielsen
John & Paula Gambs
Ann Fischer Hecht
Kathleen G. Henschel & John W. Dewes
Pat & Merrill Shanks
Harriet H. Simpson
Lisa R. Taylor
Edward Vine & Ellen Singer-Vine
Lisa Zadek
March 23, 2024 47

Deborah Shidler
Principal Oboe Chair
Fund
Susan & Jim Acquistapace
Gertrude E. Allen
Janet Popesco Archibald
Jeff & Joan Bendix
Audrey Burkhart
David Burkhart
Bennie Cottone
Cyndi Creamer
Allison Don
Tom & Adrienne Duckworth
Steve & Michele Engebretson
Joy Fellows
David Granger
Patrice Hambelton
Dr. Bede John Healey
Kathleen G. Henschel & John W. Dewes
William Holmes
Incarnation Monastery
Joan & Peter Klatt
Leonie Kramer
Richard O. Leder
Jim & Jenn Lewis & Family
Dan MacNeill
Ilana Matfis
Jan Shohara McCutcheon
Thalia Moore
Pete Nowlen & David Martin
Nora Pirquet & Raymond Froehlich
Carol Rice
San Francisco Opera Orchestra
Douglas & Trish Shidler
Ken & Pat Shidler
Nancy Shidler & Jack Anderson
Lisa R. Taylor
Marta Tobey & Roger Ramey
Skip & Marianne Wagner
Susan & Roger Waller
Cheryl R. Wiener
IN-KIND DONORS
Special thanks to these individuals and
businesses whose generous donations of
goods and services are crucial in helping
Berkeley Symphony produce concerts
and education programs while keeping
expenses as low as possible.
Eric Asimov, Dan Baron, Joan Finton,
Paul & Laura Bennett, Berkeley Times,
Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary
Music, Chris Carpenter, Chanticleer,
Chef Bradley Ceynowa, Chocolaterie,
Claremont Club & Spa, Complant Winery,
Cottage Grove Inn, Nidhi Chanani,
Susan & Ronald Choy, Richard Collier,
Nick Davis, Donum Estate, Fritz Hatton,
Kathleen G. Henschel & John W. Dewes,
Sean Hipkin, Jutta’s Flowers, Landmark
Winery, Lioco Winery, Ming Luke, Sue
& John Malick, René Mandel, Carrie
McAlister and John Protopappas,
Merola Opera Program, Music@Menlo,
Penfolds, Peet’s Coffee, Piedmont Post,
Rigel Robinson, Henry Rogers, Sendy
Santamaria, Seral Steel, Scenic Made
Bakery, SF Jazz, SingleThread Farms,
Adam Smith, Ward Spangler, Lisa R.
Taylor, Yvette Vloeberghs, William Knuttel
Winery, Joseph Young
JOIN OUR BAND OF
COMMUNITY HELPERS
Looking for a way to
get involved with
Berkeley Symphony
in a meaningful way?
Email Tiffany, our Director
of Strategic Partnerships
& Audience Engagement, at
tfajardo@berkeleysymphony.org
to learn about
volunteer opportunities.
48 March 23, 2024

BERKELEY SYMPHONY
LEGACY SOCIETY
Legacy giving helps to ensure that
Berkeley Symphony’s music and education
programs will continue to delight
and inspire for generations to come. We
are deeply grateful to those who have
made bequests to Berkeley Symphony as
part of their estate planning.
Legacies Pledged
Gertrude Allen
Philip Anderson
Joan Balter
Norman Bookstein
Kathleen Crandall
Dianne Crosby
John Dewes
Lori Gitter
Kathleen G. Henschel
Brian James
Kenneth Johnson
Jeffrey Leiter
Janet Maestre
Sandy McCoy
Ellen Singer-Vine
Tricia Swift
Lisa R. Taylor
Jim Tibbs
Edward Vine
S. Shariq Yosufzai
Lisa Zadek
Legacies Received
Margaret Stuart E. Graupner
Richard & Joan Herring
Bennett Markel
Winton & Margaret McKibben
Susan Meadows Hone
Rochelle D. Ridgway
Harry Weininger
INSTITUTIONAL GIVING
Berkeley Symphony is proud to recognize
these corporations, foundations,
community organizations, and government
programs. These institutions are
supporting our communities through
their commitment to Berkeley Symphony
and the arts.
$25,000 and above
California Arts Council
$10,000 and above
Berkeley Public Schools Fund
The Bernard Osher Foundation
Bernard E. & Alba Witkin Charitable
Foundation
National Endowment for the Arts
$5,000 and above
Alameda County Arts Commission
City of Berkeley, Office of Economic
Development
The Familian Levinson Foundation
Music Performance Trust Fund
Pacific Harmony Foundation
$1,500 and above
Blue Shield of California
Chevron
The Grubb Co.
Meyer Sound Laboratories, Inc.
We thank all who contribute to Berkeley
Symphony, including those giving up
to $100 annually and those whose gifts
have been received since press time.
Recognition levels exclude fundraising
event auction item purchases and purchases
of base-level tickets to fundraising
events. While every attempt has been
made to assure accuracy in our list of
supporters, omissions and misspellings
may occur. Please call 510.841.2800 to
report errors. We appreciate the opportunity
to correct our records.
March 23, 2024 49

Administration & Creative Staff
Joseph Young, Music Director
Marion Atherton, Executive Director
Ming Luke, Education Director
Jessica Frye, Director of Development
Tiffany Fajardo, Director of Strategic Partnerships & Audience Engagement
Marcos Saenz, Operations Manager
Sesar Sanchez, Marketing & Patron Services (MAPS) Manager
Laili Gohartaj, Grant Writer
Linda Ballentine and Cindy Michael, Finance Managers
Belen Islas and Zion Estes, Cristo Rey De La Salle Work-Study Interns
Flamingo Creative, Season Graphic Design
Rebecca Wishnia, Copywriter
PROGRAM
Andreas Jones, Design & Production
Thomas May, Program Notes
Krishna Copy Center, Printing
SPECIAL THANKS
To Kathy Paxson for her dedicated service as finance manager
from 2019-2024
To Ming Luke for stellar service as Interim Executive and
Artistic Director during the 23/24 season
Contact
1919 Addison St., Suite 201, Berkeley, CA 94704
510.841.2800
info@berkeleysymphony.org
find us on
Learn more
about the rest
of the season
and sign up for
our mail list
50 March 23, 2024

The East Bay’s Best New Bar
of 2022 (Berkeleyside.org)
THE ONLY ROOFTOP LOUNGE IN BERKELEY
Dinner • Cocktails
Stunning Views
Live Music • Good Times
Located on the 12th floor of
the new Residence Inn Berkeley
2121 Center St. • Open daily 4:30
Special Rate for Symphony
Audience. Book through
www.BerkeleySymphony.org
.........................................
all Suite Hotel
March 23, 2024 51